PAGE 2, WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 1984, WHITBY FREE PRESS Grit candidate says two-thirds of Durham Centre's retarded residents will end up in a mega-institution Two-thirds of the residents of the Durham Centre for the Developmentally Han- dicapped will end up in giant institutions accor- ding to Brian Evans, one of the men who wan- ts to put George Ashe on the unemployment line after the next provincial election. Evans, who will carry the Liberal party ban- ner in Durham West next year, says that most of the mentally retarded residents of the Whitby facility are unable to live in group homes and will have to be sent to the "mega- institutions" when the centre closes in May; 1986. When the Whitby lawyer says that "those residents that are capable of living in a group home will be bet- ter off" many of them will suffer because of the provincial gover- nment's decision to close Durham Centre and nine similiar facilities across the province. "About two-thirds of these residents are not capable of living in a group home," Evans maintains. "My infor- mation is that two- thirds of these people are going to be shipped to the mega-institutions which to me are nothing more than cattle bar- ns." The candidate says he has spent much time in the last few weeks talking to parents of these people and has discovered that there are not places for many of them who are capable of living in group homes. What's worse is that many local com- munities don't have a group home bylaw. Evans says there are 20 people on the group home waiting list in Ajax and between 400 to 600 on the Toronto lists. Neither Pickering nor Whitby have group home bylaws. He also says that of the 101 residents of the St. Lawrence Centre in Brockville, 45 were sent to the mega-institutions when it closed earlier this year. 1 When Durham Centre closes, two training facilities will also be closed - Brock Stop on Brock St. S. and another on the grounds of the Whitby Psychiatrie Hospital. "What-we are concer- ned about is that the provincial government is dumping psychiatrie patients and the disabled into the com- murnity without back- Up," Evans said. "They have the gall to say their putting them out in the community." He dismisses the government's claim that closing facilities such as Durham Centre will bring these people back into the com- munity where they belong. He points out that when the Lakeshore Psychiatrie AND IN THIS CORNER... Hospital was closed, patients were literally dumped into Parkdale without any kind of sup- port. And if the government is closing these facilities to save money, then lt should sayo. "Don't perpetuate the hoax that they're going to be bet- ter off," Evans said. - "If you judge a society at all, judge it by the way it treats its elderly, its disabled and its sick," Evans con- tinued, "I can only describe the gover- nment's attitude on this issue, especially when they're not telllng the truth, as shameful." He also blames the closure on the gover- nment's inability to manage its money. "If the province had been properly- run during the last 20 years, we would not have to be cutting out these basic social programs," Evans said noting that the government has spent $1 billion buying up land for future. development. "A few developers got richer and the land's not even being used for farming and that's a double waste," he said, noting that the proposed Seaton community for north Pickering is one example, right in this riding. He also notes that government has allowed Ontario Hydro to get it- self $20 billion in debt - a debt that is growing by $2 billion.a year. He also doesn't understand why the government - can spend $650 million to purchase part of Suncor when it can't keep Durham Centre open. "If they can eut a place like Durham Cen- tre, what can't they cut?" Evans is also calling' on Durham West MPP George Ashe, who is also Minister of Gover- nment Services in the Progressive Conser- vative government, to delay _the closing of Durham Centre. "Keep Durham Cen- tre open for now," Evans said, "slow down the closing, see if the closing that have already taken place have worked to be benefit of the residents. 1I also want to be assured that the residents will continue to receive adequate training, care and supervision, he added, "And I want to be assured that no resident will be 'lincarcerated' in the mega-institutions." Evans is also afraid that many of the 100 people who work: a t Durham Centre will lose their jobs permanently because the government will only offer each of them one job when the facility closes and for that job they may have to relocate. "We want assurances that no local jobs will be lost.". Citizens' grup wilrevIew trustees The Durham Board of Education has decided to have an outside committee. of com- munity members examine trustee salaries. The board moved that an outside committee of ratepayers should review trilatee renumeration and make recommendations to the finance committee. The committee will examine comparative data from other elected officials before making their recommendations.- A report will be presented to the board by the end of May for final approval. The committee will be selected from five salarty. representatives of the local community. There will be a representative from the Oshawa and District Labor Council, the Federation of Agriculture, the regular school advisory com- mittee, the Chamber of Commerce and a mem- ber of the news media. It was generally felt that since the ratepayers pay the honorariums for the board they should decide the size. Trustees are curren-- tly paid a salary of $8,000 a year. theft A shoe store in the east end of Whitby was the victim of a theft last Satur'day afternoon. According to a spokesman for the Durham Regional Police Force, someone entered the store's of- fice sometime between 10:15 a.m. and 3:15 p.m. and removed a large billfold purse. It contained between $8,000 and $10,000 worth of cash, cheques and credit card recipients. A defenselesý child. One of the But more importantlvwe all thousands of children in our prov- ince subjected every day to perhaps the most brutal of all crimes- child abuse. Professionals, working with or treating young people, have a legal duty to report suspected cases of child abuse to their local Children's Aid Society or Family and Children's Services. have a moral duty to report suspi- cions of child abuse. A respon- sibility we all share- to ensure that every young person in Ontario enjoys a childhood free from neglect or abuse. Give a kid a fighting chance. Report child abuse. Ontario Ministry of Community and Social Services Frank Drea, Minister William Davis, Premier Write for the free booklet "Child Abuse Prevention:' c/o Ontario Centre for the Prevention of Child Abuse, 700 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario M7A 1E9. MOLLY MMD "Specializing in Rouse Cleuning For Porticular People" 666'2144 , -1ljpT